Rosseti Cracks Down on Black Miners Causing $16.5 million Losses

* Rosseti partners with Rostelecom and MTS to detect illegal crypto mining. * Illegal operations caused over $16.5 million (1.3 billion rubles) in damages in 2024. On June 21, 2025, Cryptopolitan reported that Rosseti, Russia's power giant, is collaborating with telecom operators Rostelecom and MTS to identify and eliminate illegal cryptocurrency mining operations that reportedly caused over 1.3 billion rubles ($16.5 million) in damages in 2024. At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Rosseti's Director General Andrei Ryumin announced the initiative, explaining that the project will involve analyzing internet traffic to locate mining farms. He noted that large volumes of data transfer could indicate mining activities. To support this, MTS is providing its AI-based solution, EnergyTool, which analyzes internet traffic and data from smart electricity meters to pinpoint areas with abnormal traffic, thereby helping to find illegal mining operations more effectively. Although Russia legalized cryptocurrency mining in the previous year, a law requiring miners to register with the Federal Tax Service, reports indicate that less than a third of active miners have complied. Furthermore, the number of mining farms in Russia increased by 9% in the first five months of 2025. Consequently, Rosseti believes the actual losses from illegal mining are much higher than the estimated $16.5 million, as the company states it only identifies a portion of these activities. The North Caucasus region, particularly Dagestan, and parts of Siberia reportedly host the largest concentrations of these "black miners." While authorities have banned mining in nearly a dozen energy-deficient regions, critics contend that these measures primarily affect legal mining businesses.